Shuffle Game: AssCreed
by nowherenew
Summary: The shuffle game, for all who don't know, is when you shuffle your iPod and, for the duration of each song, write a small piece of fiction that the song inspired you to write. AssCreed, many pairings. Spoilers lurk at every corner; beware!
1. The Last Song Ever

**A/N: So I have about twenty pages in my notebook of the shuffle game. The shuffle game, for all who don't know, is when you shuffle your iPod and, for the duration of each song, write a small piece of fiction that the song inspired you to write. My new obsession is Assassin's Creed, so this whole drabble series will be of that. Spoilers will be abound. Enjoy! **

**The Last Song Ever by Secondhand Serenade**

Leaving Florence at first seemed temporary. Maybe it was due to Claudia's incessant queries of "when will we be back, Ezio?" Maybe it was because Ezio was seventeen and foolish. Seventeen and naïve in the way only a child can be. He never finished that childhood, but rarely did any of his kind. Most assassins never did.


	2. Second Chance

**Second Chance by Shinedown**

Altair slept with his eyes open. It bothered Malik. It was just _unnerving_. The Jerusalem Bureau leader's bitter rage only grew when he looked over at the resting "novice" and locked eyes with him. He jumped, and was only forgiving of the fact because Altair wasn't awake to have seen it.


	3. Entertainment

**Entertainment by Rise Against**

Double blades were all nice and good, but a blunt weapon, Ezio found, was always much more satisfying. To break in the head of a Templar and feel that evil blood spatter all over him was truly a joy. Uberto Alberti had it coming. He should have known that when you mess with the Auditore family, you get your face bashed in with a mace after being stabbed by a revenge-starved young assassin.

Ah, Ezio missed his youth.


	4. Bad Influence

**Bad Influence by P!nk**

Leonardo didn't see the point of lovers. Relationships would only obstruct his studies and distract him from his precious work,

That didn't mean he couldn't look, however.

Cesare was basically asking for it. A misogynist with hair that lush? Absolutely ridiculous.


	5. We Started This Op'ra Shit

**We Started This Op'ra S**t from Repo! The Genetic Opera**

Monteriggioni is beautiful in the summer.

Not as beautiful as the results of the heat, though.

Ezio knew Leonardo wouldn't wear so many layers when it was this hot.


	6. I Can't Dance

**I Can't Dance by Bonaparte**

The shenanigans that Shaun and Desmond sometimes stumbled into never failed to shock Lucy. Rebecca thought it was all hilarious, but Lucy swore she was going to go grey before thirty.

All she wanted to know was who in the name of hell thought that trying to set up a zipline in the warehouse was a good idea.


	7. Alejandro

**Alejandro (Radio Edit) by Lady Gaga**

His friends warned him about the colored tablets before he went to the club. Bright, beautiful tablets that made you soar. Tablets he shouldn't put in his mouth because it might break his brilliantly imaginative mind. He hadn't intended on doing any, but ended up taking a few. Then a few more. Then again, who needs perception of reality when you have Ezio to take care of you?

Ezio held him upright in that sea of barely-dressed, sweat-drenched people. Ezio walked him home. Then, Ezio took _very_ good care of Mr. da Vinci.


	8. Cinders

**Cinders by Matt & Kim**

Leonardo da Vinci looked at his portrait of Salai intently. He'd forgone eyebrows. He hummed for a moment, contemplating. A smile cracked across his thin lips when he decided he liked the painting much better that way.

Maybe he'd make it a female, just to see how it turned out.


	9. Flume & Skinny Love

**I was super inspired by these two songs coming up on shuffle consecutively, so I cheated and put them on repeat.**

**They are not angels of Bible stories. Think the novel **_**Elsewhere**_**.**

**Flume by Bon Iver **

**Skinny Love by Bon Iver**

Federico glanced at the spirit beside him. He leaned over and asked softly, "So, what is your name, young one?"

The dark-skinned, bright-eyed angel looked the dead Italian in the eye and replied in a thick Arabic accent that could have been Arabic itself because all languages are understandable in the afterlife, "Kadar is my name. I know yours already."

"I wonder why my guide is so much younger than I," mused Federico in wonder.

Kadar blinked before replying in a bland tone. "Though I died young, I have been here for nearly three centuries longer than you have. You are new to this, whilst I am well-versed in the ways and wonders of the afterlife. We all share one experience, however."

Federico supplied softly, though it needed no voicing to be known, "Death."

Kadar nodded slowly. "Yes, death. We have all endured it. Lived it, if you will," he added with a wry, weak grin, and gave a soft chuckle that was not joined by the older man. Clearing his throat and taking a deep breath—both unnecessary actions for a dead man—Kadar continued. "I am to guide you through the system and share a home with you for the next fifty years. Longer, if we both decide to make it so."

Federico closed his eyes, humming. "Well, I have a feeling you'll have my 'yes' vote, Kadar."

Kadar smiled softly at the older man because he knew it would go unseen. "I predict the same, Federico."


	10. Tiny Cities Made of Ashes

**Tiny Cities Made of Ashes by Modest Mouse**

Desmond didn't know Shaun had musical talent. Shaun didn't know Desmond had a talent besides complaining. Desmond had been writing out a bass line for a song between breaks. Shaun, fascinated by the idea that his drop-dead-gorgeous fellow barista was actually _literate_, looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened significantly and his mouth dropped open. "You play?"

After a glance at the English man, the taller coffee-server shrugged. "Yeah. Ten years, something like that. Dunno."

Determined to always retort rather than simply reply, Shaun snapped, "So, from infancy, then?"

Desmond chuckled, unfazed by the insult. "Nah," he responded boredly. He turned around, leaning against the counter, and met Shaun's eyes. "Why?"

"I play drums," was the casual utterance from Shaun.

It was the beginning of a completely beautiful plethora of hours in Shaun's garage, fooling around with a bass guitar and a drum kit.

_That_ was the beginning of many hours on Shaun's couch, fooling around without any music besides the singing of their bodies.


	11. Smile

**Smile by Lily Allen**

Once upon a time, there was a (fairly) young prince named Shaun Hastings of Hastershire. Son of the king and queen of the entire land, he was gifted with insurmountable intelligence. He was also very confident, sarcastic and sometimes a bit of a cunt.

Oh, and the prince had a very deep interest in a brewer's son named Desmond. A _very, very_ deep interest in him.


	12. Hero of War

**Hero of War by Rise Against**

Ezio fell into Leonardo's arms. Leonardo's gentle hands removed his lover's hood, delicate artist's fingers tangling into his thick hair. No words were needed. Ezio's tears said enough. Leonardo did not try to speak to his love in an attempt to comfort him. He made no noise. He allowed the assassin, barely two decades old, to sob into his shoulder. That rich, full voice Leonardo loved so deeply let out an almost inaudible whisper.

"Leonardo, they're gone."

Leonardo did not respond. He knew Ezio did not want him to respond. He held Ezio tightly, rubbing his back and slowly taking Ezio's weapons from his belt. After disarming the younger man, he pulled back to stare into Ezio's eyes. "Ezio Auditore, you will not let this defeat you. You will be strong and remember enough to learn, but forget enough that it is no longer as agonizing as this."

Ezio set his jaw, nodded, and allowed Leonardo to tuck him into bed for the last time for two years.


	13. Fooled by the Night

**Fooled by the Night by Minus the Bear**

Leonardo had seen the ocean. He had perched on a rocky shore south of Rome and stared out to the wide, seemingly endless horizon. The sun hung low in the almost-darkening sky, bringing a bright golden outline to pink-tinted clouds. Leonardo looked at the sketch before him, stained with oil paints, and instantly ripped it from the easel. He tossed the painting into the sea.

Some things aren't meant to be replicated. Leonardo, though he may seem to have an itch to paint everything, was wise enough to know this.

When Ezio asked him how his trip went, Leonardo smiled and replied, "Epiphanic, my dear Ezio."


End file.
